Method of transmitting a serial bit-stream and electronic transmitter for transmitting a serial bit-stream

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an electronic transmitter for serially transmitting bit sequences. The electronic transmitter includes a detection device  10  and a transmitting device  12.  The detection device  10  is adapted to detect a predefined bit sequence for transmittal. The predefined bit sequence is susceptible to inter-symbol-interference. The transmitting device  12  is adapted to transmit serially the detected predefined bit sequence in such a way, that a duration for transmittal of a particular bit in said predefined bit sequence is longer than a duration of transmittal of remaining bits in said predefined bit sequence.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 USC §119 of German Application Serial No. 10 2005 013480.7, filed Mar. 23, 2005.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method of transmitting a serial bit-stream and to an electronic transmitter for transmitting a serial bit-stream.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventionally, a transmission system comprises an electronic transmitter, a transmission channel and an electronic receiver. The transmission channel may consist of any medium used for data transfer. In particular, physical lines are used. But a wireless channel is also conceivable, wherein data transfer is accomplished through electromagnetic radiation.

The electronic transmitter usually comprises a clock generator as well as a transmitting unit. Information is encoded bitwise and each bit is synchronized with the transmitter clock. In particular, the transmitter may output a relatively high voltage representative of a bit 1 and a relatively low voltage representative of a bit 0 on a transmission line. Transitions from a high to a low voltage and vice versa are both synchronized with respective up transitions of the clock signal. The high bit voltage as well as the low bit voltage are transferred during a period of the clock, in order to transmit a single bit.

The transferred signal is recovered by the receiver. The receiver comprises a clock and a receiving unit. In particular, the clock is recovered from the transferred data using a phase locked loop. The transferred bits are sampled in synchronism with the clock. The ideal sampling point for bit recovery lies halfway between two consecutive edges of the recovered clock. Therefore, the sampling points are phase shifted by T/2 in relation to the clock transitions.

Due to the attenuation and delay characteristics of the transmission channel, jitter occurs on this side of the receiver. Jitter stands for the deviation of an event from the ideal timing of the event. In the instance of a data communication system, the event recorded is the transition of the received data signal. The ideal timing of this event is in synchronism with the clock transitions provided by the recovered clock. However, as a result of jitter the received data transitions do not occur simultaneously with the clock

The problem of jitter has been addressed in the state of the art concerned with data transmission. In particular, a certain kind of data dependent jitter, namely inter-symbol-interference (ISI) has been recognized. FIG. 3 shows schematically a superimposition of three exemplary signals received by a conventional receiving unit. The X-axis of the coordinate system shown in FIG. 1 represents time and the Y-axis the voltage of the received signals. Signal 1 represents the received wave form, which is detected, if a bit pattern 11110 is transmitted. Signal 2 results from a bit pattern 00010. The initial voltage value of signal 1 represents a high voltage state corresponding to a high bit, whereas an initial state of signal 2 is the opposite, namely a low voltage state representative of a low bit. A horizontal line between the two initial states of signals 1 and 3 represents the intermediate voltage in the center between the initial state of the first and second signal. Signal 1 eventually descends down to the low voltage state, whereby it intersects the intermediate state. Signal 2 rises above the intermediate state, but does not reach the high voltage binary state. Instead, signal 2 descends down to its initial state, before reaching the high voltage state. Because of the attenuation and the delay of the transmission channel, both signals 1 and 2 do not intersect the intermediate state during a top down transition at the same point in time. The inter-symbol-interference time skew T_(ISI) is representative of the jitter caused by inter-symbol-interference. The reason for inter-symbol-interference is that signal 2 does not reach the voltage level, from which signal 1 descends. The effect of inter-symbol-interference is an increased bit error ratio (BER) on the side of the receiver.

A state of the art solution to the problem of inter-symbol-interference in data transmission systems consists of providing four different voltage levels for transmitting signals on the side of the transmitter. The two intermediate voltage levels of the four voltage levels correspond to the up and down voltage states conventionally used. A further higher and lower voltage state is also provided for transmission. Each time a transition from a low to a high bit is to be transferred, the transmitter chooses a voltage level having an increased amplitude for transmitting said bit sequence transition. Signal 3 in FIG. 1 shows the resulting waveform for the bit pattern 00010 (bit pattern of signal 2). Since the high bit is transferred with an added voltage amplitude, the received waveform rises to a far higher level than signal 2. Consequently, the intersection between the falling edge of signal 3 and the intermediate level shown in FIG. 1 is almost synchronous with the intersection between the signal 1 and the intermediate level. The inter-symbol-interference skew has been improved. However, the pre-emphasis of the voltage amplitude leads to an increased power consumption on the side of the transmitter. Furthermore, additional jitter may occur if pre-emphasis over compensates the attenuation on the transmission line or if the pre-emphasis compensation is insufficient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method of serially transmitting bit sequences using an electronic transmitter for serially transmitting bit sequences, which compensate for inter-symbol-interference without the need for increased power and without introducing additional jitter.

The method of transmitting a serial bit-stream according to the present invention comprises the steps of buffering the bit-stream prior to its transmission and detecting a predefined bit sequences. The predefined bit sequences is susceptible to inter-symbol-interference. The method according to the present invention further comprises the steps of feeding the buffered bit stream to a clocked transmitter and adjusting the phase of a clock applied to the clocked transmitter, so that a duration for transmittal of a particular bit in a detected predefined bit sequence is longer than a duration of transmittal of remaining bits in said detected predefined bit sequence.

The present invention also relates to an electronic transmitter for serially transmitting bit sequences. The electronic transmitter according to the invention comprises a detection device adapted to detect a predefined bit sequence for transmittal. In particular, bit sequences may be detected, which lead to inter-symbol-interference with a high probability. The electronic transmitter according to the invention further comprises a transmitting device adapted to transmit serially the detected predefined bit sequence. The transmission of the bit sequence is carried out in such a way that a duration of transmittal of a particular bit in the bit sequence is longer than a duration of transmittal of remaining bits in the bit sequence. Instead of increasing the voltage amplitude as done in the state of the art, the effect of inter-symbol-interference is alleviated by prolonging the duration, during which a particular bit prone to inter-symbol-interference is transmitted.

Since the transmission time is longer, there is more time for the received signal to reach its full amplitude. Consequently, signal 2 in FIG. 1 may rise up to the initial level of signal 1 in FIG. 1. The inter-symbol-interference jitter is considerably reduced. Furthermore, the energy consumption is lower, because additional voltage levels for transmission must not be used. The bit error ratio is reduced. The recovery of the clock at the receiver is facilitated. The reliability of data transmission is enhanced. Longer transmission lines may be used for data transmission. Cheaper connectors and cables may be used without impeding data transmission.

Preferably, the detector of the electronic transmitter is adapted to detect a particular bit sequence. This bit sequence comprises a plurality of bits in a first state (up or down) followed by a single bit in a second state (down or up). The single bit in the second state is followed by a further bit in the first state. Inter-symbol-interference is likely to occur on the side of the receiver when detecting the single bit in the second state. The detector of the electronic transmitter is capable of detecting bit sequences causing inter-symbol-interference. In order to alleviate the effect of inter-symbol-interference, the transmitting device is adapted to prolong the duration of transmittal of the bit in the second state. Hence, the single bit has a longer time to rise to its maximum value on the side of the receiver. The attenuation of the transmission channel is compensated.

Preferably, the detector comprises a buffering unit and a monitoring unit. The buffering unit is adapted to receive the serial bit-stream. It continuously buffers a predefined number of said bits for transmittal. The number of buffered bits corresponds to the number of bits in the predefined bit sequence that is to be detected. Preferably, the buffering unit is a shift register, which shifts the bits through its stages. The monitoring unit is adapted to continuously monitor, whether the stored predefined number of bits in the buffering unit corresponds to the predefined bit sequence prone to inter-symbol-interference. To this end, the monitoring unit comprises a decision logic adapted to read out in parallel the bits from the shift register. In this way, the bits received by the transmitter for transmission may be monitored without impeding the flow of bits to the transmitter.

The transmitting device preferably comprises a clock generator, a phase multiplexer and a transmitting unit. The clock generator is adapted to generate a predefined number of clock signals. Each of said clock signals has the same frequency. The clock signals are phase-shifted in relation to each other. The phase multiplexer is adapted to select one of said clock signals and output the selected clock signal to the transmitting unit. The bit length of the selected clock signal is changed by the multiplexer, i.e. the distance between neighboring rising and/or falling edges is adjusted. The transmitting unit is adapted to receive the selected clock signal. The selected clock signal triggers the transmission of bits by the transmitting unit. In particular, a rising edge of the clock signal may trigger the transmission of a single bit. The transmission of the single bit may be terminated by the next rising edge of the clock signal. Since the distance in time between the rising edges may be adjusted by the phase multiplexer, the transmission duration of the single bit may be adjusted appropriately. Thereby, inter-symbol-interference effects may be alleviated. Preferably, the phase multiplexer receives a signal from the detector, indicating that a particular bit sequence prone to inter-symbol-interference has been detected in order to set up the multiplexer for manipulation of the clock phase. The clock generator may be a phase locked loop having a ring oscillator, which provides several clock signals having a predefined phase relationship. The transmitting unit may provide voltage signals or generate electromagnetic radiation. The transmission channel, across which the signals are sent, may be a transmission line or a wireless channel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is described hereinafter with reference to the accompanied drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a graph indicating a waveform of received signals that result from different bit patterns.

FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the electronic transmitter for seriously transmitting bit sequences according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an electronic transmitter according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows graphs of clock signals on lines generated by a clock signal generator of the first embodiment as well as a graph of the signal input to the multiplexer in FIG. 3 and output signals from a transmitting unit in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The electronic transmitter according to FIG. 2 comprises a detector 10 and a transmitting device 12. The detector 10 receives a bit-stream for transmittal and outputs the same bits to the transmitting device 12. The transmitting device 12 sends the received bit sequence via transmission lines 28 a and 28 b to a receiver (not shown).

The detector 10 consists of a buffering unit 14 and a monitoring unit 16. The buffering unit 14 is an N-bit-shift-register. The shift register 14 buffers the incoming bit-stream from line 30 in N bit stages. Each bit propagates through shift register 14, whereby it is stored in each bit stage, until it is output via line 32 to the transmitting device 12. Each bit stage is connected to a monitoring unit 16 by a respective bit line B1, B2, . . . , BN. The bit-stream continuously shifted through shift register 14 is monitored by the monitoring unit 16. Each bit stored in the respective bit stage in the shift register 14 is transferred to the monitoring unit 16. The monitoring unit 16 may detect a bit sequence susceptible to inter signal-interference.

Transmitting device 12 consists of a clock generator 18, a phase multiplexer 20 and a transmitting unit 22. The clock generator 18 is also used for clocking the shift register 14. Transmitting unit 22 receives the bits for transmittal from the shift register 14 via transmission line 32. The clock signal on line 34, which is input to the transmitting unit, triggers the generation of output signals on lines 28 a and 28 b. The signals on lines 28 a and 28 b are voltage signals, wherein the signal on line 28 a is inverted in relation to the signal on line 28 b.

Transitions from a high to a low voltage and vice versa on lines 28 a and 28 b are both synchronized with respective up transitions of the clock signal on line 34. The phase multiplexer 20 receives plural input signals from lines 24 a, 24 b and 24 c. The signals on lines 24 a to 24 c each represent clock signals of a rectangular form having the same frequency and period. The clock signal on line 24 a may be phase shifted by −T/4 in relation to the clock signal on line 24 b and clock signal on line 24 c may be phase shifted by +T/4 in relation to clock signal on line 24 b, wherein T represents the period of the periodic clock signals on lines 24 a to 24 c. Different phase shifts may be provided between the clock signals input to the phase multiplexer 20. Furthermore, more than 3 clock signals may be input to the phase multiplexer 20.

Clock signal generator 18 provides these three clock signals having the afore-mentioned fixed phase relationship. The multiplexer 20 chooses one of the clock signals on lines 24 a to 24 c, which are transferred via line 34 to the transmitting unit 22. Consequently, the distance in time between rising edges of the selected signal on line 34 is changed, if the phase multiplexer switches from one of the clock signals on lines 24 a to 24 c to another clock signal. The bit length of the output signals on lines 28 a to 28 b may be controlled using the phase multiplexer 20. Once a bit sequence is detected by the monitoring unit 16, this information is transferred to multiplexer 20 via bus 26. Thereupon, multiplexer 20 switches between the input clock signals on lines 24 a to 24 c in order to suppress inter-signal-interference effects, which might occur on the side of the receiver.

A bit sequence susceptible to inter-signal-interference may consist of the following N-bits: 0100000 or 1011111.

A bit sequence prone to inter-symbol-interference is detected, if bit line B1 carries a 0, bit line B2 carries a 1 and bit lines B3 to BN also carry a 0. Also, a particular bit sequence prone to inter-symbol-interference is detected, if bit line B1 carries a 1, bit line B2 carries a 0 and the remaining bit lines B3 to BN also carry a 1. In this case, monitoring unit 16 outputs a detect signal on bus 26 to the phase multiplexer 20. The phase multiplexer 20 switches between the input clock signals on lines 24 a to 24 c, in order to increase the bit length, when the single bit at bit line B2 is transferred by the transmitting unit 22. The phase detector 20 waits, until the particular bit is shifted through the shift register 14 and is input to the transmitting unit 22. The bit length of this particular bit is changed by switching between the clock signals on lines 24 a to 24 c.

FIG. 3 shows graphs of the clock signals on lines 24 a, 24 b and 24 c. The amplitude in voltage is represented by the y-coordinate axis and the time in seconds is represented by the x-axis, schematically. Furthermore, the signal on bus 26 is input to the phase multiplexer 20 and the output signals on lines 28 a and 28 b are depicted. Again, the amplitude in voltage is represented by the y-axis; the time in seconds is represented by the x-axis. The same time interval is shown for all signals on lines 24 a, 24 b, 24 c, 28 a and 28 b. The clock signals on lines 24 a, 24 b and 24 c have a rectangular wave form. Reference sign 38 depicts a period T of clock signal on line 24 b.

The purpose of the signal on bus 26 is to trigger the multiplexer 20, such that the signal output on line 34 is phase shifted. The emission of bits from transmission unit 22 is synchronized with the output signal on line 34, in order to ascertain that the appropriate bit is prolonged by the phase shifted signal on line 34. As long as control signal on bus 26 is in a low state, the bit length of the output signals on lines 28 a and 28 b is equal to the period T of clock signal on line 24 b. The output signals on lines 28 a and 28 b are triggered by the rising edges of the clock signal on line 24 b.

A reference sign 46 indicates a rising edge of clock signal on line 24 b, which triggers output signals on lines 28 a and 28 b. Before the period T has elapsed, control signal on bus 26 is shifted into a high state. Reference sign 48 indicates a rising edge of the control signal on bus 26. In this instance, phase shifter 20 shifts from the clock signal on line 24 b to the clock signal on line 24 a. Consequently, the next rising edge of the clock signal output by phase shifter 20 is rising edge 40 of clock signal on line 24 a. Therefore, the output signals on lines 28 a and 28 b are triggered by the rising edge 40. In turn, the bit length of the output signal indicated by reference sign 52 is shorter than the period of clock signal on line 24 b. Since clock signal on line 24 a is phase shifted by −90° (−T/4) in relation to clock signal on line 24 b, the length of the output bit 52 is shortened by T/4.

The phase multiplexer outputs the clock signal from line 24 a via line 34 until the control signal on bus 26 falls down to a low state. The falling edge of control signal on bus 26 is indicated by reference sign 50. In this instance, the phase shifter shifts from the clock signal on line 24 a to the clock signal on line 24 c. Consequently, the transmission of the present bit is terminated until the next rising edge of clock signal on line 24 c, which is indicated by reference sign 42. During the rising edge 42, the transmission of the particular bit is terminated. Reference sign 36 indicates the length of the bit, which has been sent during a prolonged period of time. The selection of clock signal 24 b by the phase multiplexer 20 is initiated by a further state of the control signal on line 34 (not shown).

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the clock signals on lines 24 a, 24 b and 24 c are phase-shifted by 90° in relation to each other. However, a different phase-shift may be provided, e.g. 45°.

An electronic transmitter according to a second embodiment is shown in FIG. 4. The electronic transmitter according to the second embodiment comprises a buffering unit 14, a monitoring unit 16, a clock generator 18, a phase multiplexer 20 and a transmitting unit 22.

Buffering unit 14 is a shift register comprising 9 D-flip-flops F01, F02, F03, . . . , F09. Each D-flip-flop has two inputs D and CLK. As long as CLK is low, an output 2 of each D-flip-flop F01 to F09 remains unchanged. Once the clock input is high, the input D is latched to the output Q, i.e. the output Q becomes equal to the input D. All other D-flip-flops shown in FIG. 4 (such as D-flip-flops F11 to F18) show the same behavior. All of the following D-flip-flops F01, F02, F03, . . . , F09; F11, F12, F13, . . . , F18; F21, F22, F23, F24, F31, F32, F40 and F50 are clocked with the same clock on line 24 b generated by clock generator 18. But D-flip-flops F60, F70, F80 and F90 are clocked by the signal on line 34 output from phase multiplexer 20.

D-flip-flops F01 to F09 form the shift register 14. The output Q of D-flip-flop F01 is transferred to input D of D-flip-flop F02 and input to the monitoring unit 16. Similarly, the output Q of D-flip-flop F02 is input to the input D of D-flip-flop F03 and output to the monitoring unit 16. All of the following D-flip-flops F03 until F08 are connected to each other in the same manner. The final D-flip-flop F09 does not output its output Q to a further D-flip-flop. The output Q of D-flip-flop F09 is only input to the monitoring unit 16. After a clock cycle has elapsed, the information stored in D-flip-flop F01 is transferred to D-flip-flop F02. The same applies to the following D-flip-flops of the shift register 14. After 9 cycles of the clock, the information has passed from D-flip-flop F01 to D-flip-flop F09.

The output of each D-flip-flop F01 is input to the monitoring unit 16. Eight XNOR-gates L01 to L08 receive the outputs of two consecutive or neighboring D-flip-flops among F01 to F09. Consequently, the outputs of each of the XNOR-gates L01 to L08 is only in a high state, if the outputs of two consecutive D-flip-flops F01 to F09 differ. The output of XNOR-gate L01 is input to D-flip-flop F11 contained in the monitoring unit 16. Similarly, the outputs of XNOR-gates L02 to L08 are input to the respective D-flip-flops F1 to F18.

The outputs Q of D-flip-flops F14, F15 and F16 are all input to a NAND-gate L12. The NAND-gate L12 outputs a 0 only, if all of the inputs are equal to 1. This is only the case, if D-flip-flops F04 to F07 previously were in the same logical state. If the D-flip-flops F04, F05, F06 and F07 were all in the same state (e.g. 0), then the output of each EXNOR-gate L04 to L06 becomes equal to 0. Eventually, the output of NAND-gate L12 becomes equal to 0.

The output of D-flip-flop F11 is inverted and input to a NOR-gate L11. The outputs of D-flip-flops F12 and F13 are input to NOR-gate L11. The output of NOR-gate L11 is equal to 1, if the output Q of D-flip-flop F11 is equal to 1, the output Q of D-flip-flop F12 is equal to 0 and the output Q of D-flip-flop F13 is also equal to 0. This is the case in particular, if the outputs of D-flip-flops F01, F02 and F03 and F04 had the following values during a previous clock cycle: F01 was equal to 0; F02 was equal to 0, F03 was equal to 1 and F04 was also equal to 0.

D-flip-flop F17 is connected to D-flip-flop F23 via OR-gate L13. The OR-gate L13 has a second input connected to a select line S1. D-flip-flops F17 is deselected by applying a high voltage state to the S1 input of OR-gate L13. Similarly, D-flip-flop F18 is connected to D-flip-flop F24 via OR-gate L14, which has a select input S2. The D-flip-flop F18 is also deselected by applying a high voltage to the select input S2. Consequently, both outputs of the D-flip-flops F23 and F24 eventually become equal to 1. The outputs of F23 and F24 are fed to the NAND-gate L22, which outputs a 0 in return. The output of NAND-gate L22 is always equal to 0. if both select lines S1 and S2 are driven by a high gate. In this case, the D-flip-flops F08 and F09 are not used for determining a particular bit sequence susceptible to inter-symbol-interference. If, however, the D-flip-flops F08 and F09 are selected, a bit sequence susceptible to inter-symbol-interference is only detected by the logic detector 16, if all the D-flip-flops F04, F05, F06, . . . , F09 have the same logical state. In the following example, D-flip-flops F08 and F09 are deselected.

If the output of D-flip-flop F03 differs from the outputs of the remaining D-flip-flops F01, F02, F04, F05, F06 and F07, then the output of gate NOR-gate L11 eventually becomes equal to 1 and the output of NAND-gate L12 eventually becomes equal to 0. Consequently, the output of XNOR-gate L21 becomes equal to 1, since XNOR-gate L21 is connected to the outputs of NOR-gate L11 and NAND-gate L12 via D-flip-flops F21 and F22. The high output of XNOR-gate L21 is transferred via D-flip-flop F31 and NOR-gate L30 to D-flip-flops F40 and 50.

The output Q of D-flip-flop F40 is input to D-flip-flop F50 as well as to the phase multiplexer B. The output of D-flip-flop F50 is input to the phase multiplexer 20 at input A. The phase multiplexer 20 receives 3 clock signals on lines 24 a, 24 b and 24 c from the clock generator 18. The clock signal on line 24 c is phase-shifted by −90° in relation to the clock signal on line 24 b and the clock signal on line 24 a is phase-shifted by +90° in relation to the clock signal on line 24 b. The selected clock signal is output via line 34 to the transmitter unit 22.

Once an up-signal is input to D-flip-flop F40, the input signal on line A from D-flip-flop F50 is equal to 0 and the input signal on line B to the phase multiplexer 20 is equal to 1. In this instance, the multiplexer chooses the signal on line 24 c, which is phase-shifted by −90°. In the meantime, the information bit in D-flip-flop F03 has been shifted to the input of D-flip-flop F90 via line 32 and D-flip-flops F60, F70 and F80. Each of the D-flip-flops F60, F70, F80 and F90 are controlled by the selected clock signal output from the phase multiplexer 20. The next clock signal received via line 34 is phase-shifted by +90°. The high signal of D-flip-flop 40 is transferred to D-flip-flop F50. The Input A is equal to zero and the input B is equal to 1. Because of to these input signals, the phase multiplexer 20 chooses the clock signal on line 24 c, which is phase shifted by +90°. Consequently, the bit length of the respective single bit is prolonged, in order to compensate inter-signal-interference effects. Once the signals on lines A and B become equal, the phase multiplexer selects the clock signal on line 24 b. 

1. A method of transmitting a serial bit-stream, comprising the steps of: buffering the bit-stream prior to its transmission; detecting a predefined bit sequences, said predefined bit sequences being susceptible to inter-symbol-interference; feeding the buffered bit stream to a clocked transmitter; and adjusting the phase of a clock applied to the clocked transmitter, so that a duration for transmittal of a particular bit in a detected predefined bit sequence is longer than a duration of transmittal of remaining bits in said detected predefined bit sequence.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of detecting the predefined bit sequence comprises detecting the predefined bit sequence having a plurality of consecutive bits in a first state followed by a bit in a second state, said bit in the second state being followed by a bit in the first state; and the step of transmitting comprises prolonging the duration of transmittal of the bit in the second state.
 3. An electronic transmitter for transmitting a serial bit-stream, comprising: a buffering unit for buffering the bit-stream prior to its transmission; a monitoring unit for detecting a predefined bit sequences, said predefined bit sequences being susceptible to inter-symbol-interference; a clocked transmitter adapted to receive the buffered bit stream; and means for adjusting the phase of a clock applied to the clocked transmitter, so that a duration for transmittal of a particular bit in said detected predefined bit sequence is longer than a duration of transmittal of remaining bits in said detected predefined bit sequence.
 4. The electronic transmitter according to claim 4, wherein the detection device (10) is adapted to detect a bit sequence having a plurality of consecutive bits in a first state followed by a single bit in a second state, said bit in the second state being followed by a further bit in the first state; and the transmitting device is adapted to prolong the duration of transmittal of the bit in the second state.
 5. The transmitter according to claim 4, wherein the detection device (10) comprises: a buffering unit (14) adapted to serially receive bits for transmittal and continuously store a predefined number of said bits for transmittal, wherein the predefined number corresponds to a number of bits in said predefined bit sequence; and a monitoring unit (16) adapted to continuously monitor whether the stored predefined number of bits corresponds to the predefined bit sequence.
 6. The transmitter according to claim 5, wherein said buffering unit comprises a shift register (14) and/or the monitoring unit (16) comprises a decision logic adapted to read out in parallel the predefined number of bits from the shift register (14).
 7. The transmitter according to one of the claim 4, wherein the transmitting device comprises: a clock generator (18) adapted to generate a predefined number of clock signals (24 a, 24 b, 24 c), wherein the clock signals (24 a, 24 b, 24 c) are phase shifted in relation to each other; a phase multiplexer (20) adapted to select one of said clock signals (24 a, 24 b, 24 c); and a transmitting unit (22) adapted to receive the selected clock signal, wherein said selected clock signal triggers the transmission of bits by the transmitting unit (22).
 8. The electronic transmitter according to claim 7, wherein said clock generator (18) comprises a phase locked loop.
 9. The electronic transmitter according to claim 8, wherein the transmitting unit (22) is adapted to provide voltage signals (28 a, 28 b) on a transmission line.
 10. The electronic transmitter according to claim 9, wherein the transmitting unit (22) is adapted to generator electromagnetic radiation. 